Brighton Beach Poem

While we do get sent a lot of slightly odd e-mails today we received one that really made us smile. Students from Thomas's London Day Schools have written a poem about Brighton and most impressively the children are only aged 6 and 7!

So here is the poem and thank you to Miss Stewart and the students of class 2CS:

Brighton Beach

Bright, shimmering waves,
Rides making happy, cheerful music,
In the water I love to bathe,
Gigantic seagulls soaring and swooping through the air,
High crashing roller coasters at the fair,
To the stalls where we can have hot, salty fish and chips!
Oh the old pier is a beautiful sight...
No sticky sand, just pebbles, YES!


Charlotte

Brighton Paddle Round the Pier

It's not unusual to...well paddle something unusual at the Paddle Round the Pier Festival. Yes, I know, I did want to burst into Tom Jones.

From humble, surf inspired beginnings to a world famous beach culture event, Paddle Round the Pier is Europe's biggest FREE beach and watersports festival.

Hitting Brighton's shores in a couple of weeks (3rd & 4th July), Paddle Round the Pier takes place on the stunning Hove Lawns and features all the very best in water, street & urban sports, live music, kids entertainment and 'have a go' opportunities.

With all the usual suspects, from surfing, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, skating, windsurfing and free running, to all new sports like Surf lifesaving, Streetball, mountain boarding and freestyle mountain biking‚ there's something for all sporty walks of life.

And what's more it's all for charity. So with so much fantastic free fun to be had, along with stacks of great prizes, chances to try things for yourself, new bands to enjoy and mind blowing demonstrations to see, why not get yourself down to Hove Lawns on 4th & 5th July?

Oh and don't forget to bring something unusual to paddle round...

Sarah
VisitBrighton

Relax at Due South

Working for VisitBrighton we spend a lot of time recommending places to visit to visitors & journalists but often we don't get a chance to actually enjoy going to them ourselves.

However yesterday I was able to rectify this by having lunch at Due South. As many of you will know this restaurant is down on the beachfront in between the two piers. We had a prime position, upstairs in the middle of the window, giving us a great view of the beach and all the weird & wonderful people walking by. I was also able to fill a little smug each time someone looked enviously up at us :)

Today when people so often grab a sandwich at the desk or go home and pop something in the microwave it was refreshing to take time out to enjoy a long, leisurely lunch. Most of the food is locally sourced with 80% of the produce coming from within a 35 mile radius of the restaurant. The menu is full of fresh ingredients put together in imaginative ways. Don't worry I won't list the whole menu however I must just include a mention of the rib-eye steak carpaccio with strawberry jelly, which sounds like an odd combination but it works!

The final touch that added to the experience were the staff who were very friendly and welcoming, they were attentive without being overly so. All in all we had a great time, so as it looks like we might actually get a summer this year forget barbecues & fast food instead I suggest you head Due South and enjoy some delicious food as you watch the world go by.

Charlotte

Brighton beach - from the sea!

Just a visual quickie today. I took a ride on Ross Boat trips the other week to grab some photos of Brighton seafront from the sea. A pleasure trip on Ross Boats is a great way to spend 40 minutes on a sunny day and you'll get a whole new viewpoint of Brighton to boot. Launching from Brighton Marina, you motor all along the coast to the West Pier, turn around and pottle back again.

You get a great perspective of the incredible array of architecure along the seafront of Brighton and Hove.

Be wary of taking beach photos, immediately after leaving the Marina, though. I took one and though, hmm, what a lot of people on that bit of beach, zoomed in in Photoshop and got a bit of a surprise. Yep, the nudist beach!

Anyway, here are some shots...

World Naked Bike Ride returns to Brighton

Just a quick post today to let you know that this Sunday the World Naked Bike ride will return to Brighton.

This is the fifth time the ride has been in Brighton and last year 700 riders took part in the ride which is a celebration of cycling but also a protest against car culture.

The event starts at the Level at noon and there will be live music by the Iron Boot Scrapers then the ride will get going at 1.30pm and end on the beach so you can enjoy a cooling dip in the sea.

But this isn't the only cycling event to happen in Brighton so make sure you check the blog next week to find out what will be happening during National Bike Week...

Charlotte

Preston Manor - Unravelling the Manor House

While everyone is familiar with the Royal Pavilion I think people often forget that this is not the only historical home within the city, as we also have the splendid Preston Manor which has been preserved as an Edwardian Manor House and shows what life was like both upstairs and downstairs.

The last time I went there must have been a couple of years ago when I did a ghost tour, however I am planning to go back again shortly as apparently it has been transformed by a new exhibition entitled Unravelling the Manor House. The exhibition includes the work of 12 contemporary fine art and craft artists and the Manor is both the inspiration and the exhibition space.

It certainly sounds intriguing and it gives us another good reason to visit, plus on our site you can download a voucher for half-price admission, hoorah!

Charlotte